Short Summary

The World Boxing Association's bantamweight champion, Alfonso Zamora of Mexico, retained his title by defeating a South Korean challenger, Hong Soo-hwan, last Saturday night (16 October).

Description

The World Boxing Association's bantamweight champion, Alfonso Zamora of Mexico, retained his title by defeating a South Korean challenger, Hong Soo-hwan, last Saturday night (16 October).

SYNOPSIS: The fight was staged in Inchon, South Korea, before an audience of twenty thousand Korean boxing fans. The Korean challenger - wearing the dark (red) shorts - was therefore not without a great deal of support as he started to tackle the more experienced Mexican.

The early rounds gave no indication of the controversy that was to follow later, and Hong occasionally showed a certain impudence by urging his opponent to do his worst.

Zamora, however, kept cool under such provocation and soon gave the Korean a lot more trouble and little time to do anything else but try and avoid hie heavy left hook.

The Mexican began to dominate the bout, and time after time Hong ended up under heavy pressure -- either on the ropes or taking punishment in the centre of the ring. The way in which Zamora was obviously piling up the points did not please the partisan crowd. By the eleventh round the writing was on the wall, and the Mexican referee, Octavio Meiran, was giving a lot of attention to Hong's battered face.

The end came in round twelve when Hong was knocked to the canvas three times. On the third occasion the referee intervened and stopped the fight. The decision brought immediate protests from the fans and the Korean boxing officials, but Zamora's win stands.